looking for an upclose n' personal pic

[Lars]

... of the tabs on the frame for the upper rear subframe attach points. I have reason to believe that the ones on my '02 were broken and re-welded, but I've never seen another frame so I can't be sure. I got over-eager when I bought mine- 9 years without a motorcycle will do that to you- and bought one with a salvage title without the fine tooth comb treatment. Shame on me. Mostly ok, but a few niggling issues. Thanks in advance for any pics!

[Steve Carlton]

They look like they're cast from the factory. Here's a couple of pics of my '02 when the tabs broke.






Welding aluminum is supposed to be tricky. There's a fix where holes are drilled into the frame and bolts go through. Supposed to be stronger than the original tabs, a fix used on the boxercup bikes. Installing those bolts isn't too easy, either.

[johnnydanger]

A friend just had the tabs welded back on a rear-end wrecked S. Worked fine and looks good... as long as the welder is good and knowledgable all should be cool in my opinion. They're obviously not super strong to begin with...

[Lars]

Originally posted by Steve Carlton
They look like they're cast from the factory. Here's a couple of pics of my '02 when the tabs broke.


Welding aluminum is supposed to be tricky. There's a fix where holes are drilled into the frame and bolts go through. Supposed to be stronger than the original tabs, a fix used on the boxercup bikes. Installing those bolts isn't too easy, either.

Thanks much for the pics. Based on those I'm confident mine were broken and re-welded. But not accurately, I'm afraid. What caused yours to break? Fortunately my hangar mate is a whiz at welding aluminum- I'm thinking about busting off the crappy re-welded ones on my frame and bribing him into making it right, assuming I can get the geometry correc.t

[Lars]

Since I'm begging for information, a helpful measurement would be the horizontal distance from the bolt centerline, forward to the frame. It looks like that should be about 1 inch or so. I suspect that when the tabs on my frame were welded back on that they were too far aft- causing the subframe to droop a bit.

[Bob Hancock]

Here are both sides. HTH.

[Lars]

Originally posted by Bob Hancock
Here are both sides. HTH.

Perfect, thanks for taking the trouble. The tabs on my frame appear to be in the right place, though the welds look like bird poop.

There is some strange misalignment of body panels on my bike that I'm trying to figure out. I've taken a bunch of measurements with body panels off, but without knowledge of what an unmolested one looks like, some of it is difficult to troubleshoot. The price I'm paying for over-eagerness.

[Steve Carlton]

With the shorter paralever and longer setting on the Ohlins, my centerstand barely worked. When I parked in on some gravel, it tipped over a few seconds later. Also, my dealer tipped it over running it up the ramp to the lift with the kickstand down when the kickstand caught on something. That's my theory, as it wasn't crashed and it doesn't tolerate lateral stress well. Those tabs get a lot of leverage exerted on them side to side.

I'll bet your front fairing frame is bent.

[Lars]

Originally posted by Steve Carlton
With the shorter paralever and longer setting on the Ohlins, my centerstand barely worked. When I parked in on some gravel, it tipped over a few seconds later. Also, my dealer tipped it over running it up the ramp to the lift with the kickstand down when the kickstand caught on something. That's my theory, as it wasn't crashed and it doesn't tolerate lateral stress well. Those tabs get a lot of leverage exerted on them side to side.

I'll bet your front fairing frame is bent.

They look pretty fragile, I guess I'm not surprised that a tipover could overstress them.

I don't weld aluminum, but my hangar mate does it very well, especially if I promise to ply him with alcohol (afterwards). If the goobered ones on my frame don't hold up I'll make something else and get him to work his TIG magic.

I'm sure the front frame is bent- in fact some of it was obvious. I straightened what I could figure out. Fortunately the bike tracks straight and rides nicely. Still, I beat myself up daily for being so impatient. Oh well.

Thanks again for the info.

[Steve Carlton]

I believe trying to straighten the front fairing frame works out about as well as sister-kissing. You should probably get a new one. Or maybe beemerboneyard.com has a good one.

[Lars]

Originally posted by Steve Carlton
I believe trying to straighten the front fairing frame works out about as well as sister-kissing. You should probably get a new one. Or maybe beemerboneyard.com has a good one.

Funny you should mention that. I emailed them a couple of weeks ago asking them to let me know if they get one in. Spendy devils new from the dealer. Hopefully one will show up eventually. Fortunately mine's not bent severely, which is how I missed it initially. Judicious use of a crowbar dealt with the obvious stuff I found later. Good thing I don't have a sister...

[AndrewA]

A dented gas tank can cause some of the the same symptoms as a bent front sub frame.

[wswartzwel]

Lars,
I added a couple triangular gussets, for additional reinforcement to the top of mine when I reconstructed it. (salvage bike)





I also was able to straighten my front fairing frame, it took lots of time and patience. Regarding Steve's kissing comment....
We can straighten them here, this is Arkansas...

[HawkI_Rider]

I am in the Navy and just had both my bikes shipped out here when I PCS'd. I was worried they would damage the Harley, but the BMW got damaged. There are 4 attach points for the rear subframe like Lars was asking about and the 2 right side of my bike were snapped off. I took it to the dealer to get the estimate done since the shipper's insurance is paying for it and it was $3818 to get everything right. I had them check the front frame for any other damaged and it was all in order. Now I just have to get the $$ from the shipper.

[Steve Carlton]

$3,818 sounds like an estimate for a new frame, which is what I got under warranty. If they're cutting you a check, consider repairing it by welding or install that bolt kit and pocket $3K.

[onekiwi]

dont worry about making the tabs to strong

When i get a bike that has the tabs broken, and i have done quite a few, my welder welds them back on with a real nice weld for 40 bucks a side
Cheap fix compared to a mangled subframe because the tabs did not break, do the math.
Remember all the subframe frame does is hold the seat and exhaust....don't sweat it

[Lars]

Originally posted by wswartzwel
Lars,
I added a couple triangular gussets, for additional reinforcement to the top of mine when I reconstructed it. (salvage bike)

I also was able to straighten my front fairing frame, it took lots of time and patience. Regarding Steve's kissing comment....
We can straighten them here, this is Arkansas...

Beauty. That looks like a long term solution. Meanwhile, mine took me 350 miles through the northern Sierras today. First long day trip with the bike. It's wonderful. And the tabs didn't break off. Trying to figure what I ever saw in Japanese multis. Unfortunately the ride involved one broken leg (not mine).

[wswartzwel]

The S is a wonderful bike isn't it. I have really enjoyed mine too...